Winter is coming … but those wanting to have fun in the snow will have to travel to Lesotho to see any.

Zimbabwe authorities have put in place a Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy, which seeks to achieve an ambitious US$5 billion tourism economy by year 2025.

The African Union has urged the restoration of civilian rule in Chad after veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno's son, a general, took charge following his father's death fighting rebels.

An Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopter has crashed, killing three crew members and a child on the ground as it came down on a house, the Air Force said in a statement.

Gunmen have shot dead three students they abducted from a northern Nigerian university, a state security official said.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday vowed support for Chad's "stability" at the funeral of veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno, but also urged his military successors to steer a smooth return to civilian rule.

Thousands of people gathered at the main square in Chad's capital N'Djamena on Friday to pay their respects to the late President Idriss Deby, who was killed while leading his troops against a rebel offensive on Monday.

The latest bout of ethnic violence in Ethiopia's Amhara region has left scores dead and displaced hundreds of thousands, a federal official told AFP Friday.

Chadian rebels said on Friday their command centre was bombed overnight in an attempt to kill their leader, hours ahead of the funeral of President Idriss Deby who was killed on the frontline on Monday.

Ten bodies were spotted near a capsized rubber boat off the coast of Libya, which had around 130 people aboard, a rescue charity said.

Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan reached out to the opposition as she vowed to defend democracy and basic freedoms in the East African country.

The Red Cross has voiced alarm over "horrific" accounts of sexual violence in Ethiopia's conflict-hit Tigray region, amid fears that rape was being used as a weapon of war.

The death of Chadian President Idriss Deby has been a hefty blow to the anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, but especially so for Nigeria, locked in a 12-year-old battle with Boko Haram and Islamic State-allied militants.

France's foreign minister on Thursday defended a military takeover in Chad despite objections from the opposition there, saying it was necessary for security amid "exceptional circumstances".

Nigeria's senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari's plan to borrow $2.7 billion (2.2 billion euros) from international institutions for infrastructure projects to help an economy hammered by an oil slump and the Covid-19 pandemic.

At least four soldiers died in an ambush in the north of Burkina Faso, according to security sources in the West African country, which has been battling Islamist insurgents.

The son of Chad's slain leader Idriss Deby took over as president and armed forces commander as rebel forces threatened to march on the capital.

A former DR Congo minister has been arrested in neighbouring Republic of Congo at the request of authorities in Kinshasa who have accused him of embezzlement.

After barely a year in office, the Lesotho prime minister's future hung in the balance on Wednesday after an overnight split of his ruling party risked upsetting the parliamentary majority he needs to stay in power.

Rebel forces set their sights on Chad's capital N'Djamena on Wednesday following the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby.